Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Hi!  We've had an awesome Christmas so far!  Went to a wonderful mass yesterday afternoon at our church, then headed to my parents to celebrate with family and meet the newest member, Abby (my cousin's 8 month old daughter)!  Had a sleepover there, opened gifts this morning (thank you for everything!) and then headed to the husband's parents' house to celebrate with them, his brothers, and grandfather (thank you for everything as well!)  I'm so stuffed, and hope to snatch my mom's meatball/hotdog/pineapple dish and Ron's mom's stuffing dish to try out and post on here in the near future:)

But now, I've got to wake the husband up from his nap so we can exchange gifts :)  And my arms are tired from playing Wii today;)  Have a wonderful rest-of Christmas, everyone, and continue to enjoy it thru the weekend:)  Giving, being thankful for what has been given to us, and love of family/friends isn't just for today:)

PS:  the stromboli at Christmas Eve and Meatball Bubble Biscuits at Christmas Day (today) were big hits!

I never thought I would make it to the blog today!

I know, it's Wicked Cheap Wednesday, but I've got nothin as they say:)  Today was a 9 hour workday, home to make dinner, and then cooked for 2 more hours - stromboli for Christmas Eve tomorrow night, Meatball Bubble Biscuits for Christmas Day, and from-scratch tollhouse cookies (with my special ingredient, coconut) for work tomorrow - all while listening to the Grinch and then a lovely Nicole Eggert Lifetime holiday movie:)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas Eve and Day - make sure to take it all in!

Hopefully I'll have something for you on Saturday...we'll call it "Saturday Savings" ;)

Merry Christmas!!!  Time to write out the husband's Christmas cards if I don't fall asleep first ... also at midnight, it will be 2 years since we got engaged (married since) - thanks for proposing babe, I sure am happy and the luckiest:)

I can't find my good engagement photos that we took the night off...so these will have to do:)

Oh so tired!...but I have to get you this Crab Rangoon Recipe!

I am all shopped-wrapped-worked out today, and it hit me all of a sudden about 11pm!  I am awaiting one last gift that is coming tomorrow, and I am done - woohoo!  I love shopping, and I always make sure to get gifts people will really like, not just to get them a gift, but it tired me out this year, even though most of it was done online and one day at the local mall.  I feel very accomplished to be all wrapped up and ready to play Santa...Santette?  Mrs. Claus?  Whatever;)

Anyways, the next party food I made was Cheaters Crab Rangoon website.  I originally found it on the Kraft website, but it is since gone.  After panicking a bit, I found the exact one at grouprecipes.com.  One of our friends, Ed, told me he ate 9 of them (I think there were 18 total) so I think people enjoyed them:)  I don't care for crab rangoons, so I didn't have any, but from the feedback I received I'll definitely be making them again:)

You will need:

• 1 can (6 oz) white crabmeat, drained, flaked 
• 4 oz of cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 12 wonton wrappers ***I actually was able to get 22 out of this mixture!  Maybe I could have filled the wrappers more, but I didn't want to overflow them and make them not a one-bite app. 

What to do:

• Mix crabmeat, cream cheese, onions, garlic powder, and mayo in a large bowl.  Preheat oven to 350.
  

this was after I had used some

• Spray 12 (in my case, 22) medium muffin cups with cooking spray and gently place one wonton wrapper in each cup, allowing edges to naturally extend above the sides.
• Fill evenly with crab mixture

• Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes, or until edges are golden brown, filling if heated through, and bottoms are slightly crispy, not "wet" from the cooking spray.  Serve warm and garnish with additional green onions if you'd like.

I have one simple recipe left to share - and since tomorrow night is going to be crazy busy for me - get out of work at 5, make dinner, help cleanup dinner, make stromboli, make meatball bubble bites, make cookies for a friend at work, get presents together, fix nails...etc etc...I'll post it now:

Cracker bites:

You will need:

• One box of Melba cracker, or cracker of choice
• 2 large tomatoes, cut into small pieces
• fresh basil leaves, shredded into small pieces
• any kind of cream cheese you would like - I used garden herb

So easy - spread cream cheese on each individual cracker, and top with basil and tomato = quick success!  A nice bite sized treat with a good mix of flavors and textures:)

Now, obviously my goal is to get back here at some point between now and Christmas Day, but if not, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all!  I can't wait to hear about your days with family and friends, and I hope you enjoy some good food that we can talk about...and maybe even some not so good food that we can try to make better for next time:)!

~Chey

And the party cont'd with...Meatball Bubble Biscuits!

I was very very nervous to make these - the steps on the Pillsbury site seemed alittle confusing to me, but once I was able to wrap myself around it, I was very pleased with the end result!  I will be making these to bring to the husband's parents' house for Christmas Day:)

You will need:

• 1 can (12 oz if you can find it which would be 10 biscuits - I could only find cans of 8) Pillsbury Grands Jr Golden layers refrigerated buttermilk or flaky biscuits
• 10 frozen, but cooked already, italian style meatballs, thawed, and cut in half - I live by one certain brand, but I can't think of the name now - I'll have to look in the freezer:)
• 2 sticks of string cheese, each cut into 10 small pieces
• 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp italian seasoning - I used oregano because that's what I had on hand
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 cup marinara sauce, heated, for dipping - even though the husband wants me to try it the next time with the sauce inside...we'll see:)

• Heat oven to 375.  Separate dough into the correct # of biscuits that it says on the can - in my case, it was 8.  Then separate each biscuit into 2 layers (alot easier than I thought it would be).  Press each down so it's about 3 inches across.
• Place one meatball half, cut side up, and 1 string cheese piece in the center of each dough round - I guess this is where you would put a small amount of sauce inside them if you chose to go that route.  Wrap dough around the meatball and cheese, making a ball, and pressing the edges to seal.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet or cake pan, and make sure they are seam-side down

• Sprinkle evenly with the Parmesan cheese, italian seasoning/oregano/whatever seasoning you'd like and garlic powder

• Bake until golden brown.  The Pillsbury recipe says 20-25 minutes at 375, but at 10 minutes, the bottoms of mine were already getting very browned.  I reduced the heat to 350 for the next batch and they took about 13 minutes = make sure you watch them!!  All ovens are different, and obviously mine was feeling a bit crazy that day!

See those big ones, the bottom 3 - I tried to use other frozen biscuits I had - I tried microwaving them to thaw them, and then separating them, but they were way too gooey and way too much dough/not bite sized like I wanted.  Definitely stick with the Jr Grands.

I hope they turn out this great for Christmas Day - fingers crossed!

I hope everyone is also enjoying this time leading up to Christmas:)  Tonight I wrapped, finished some cards, and watched It's A Wonderful Life and it felt so good:)

Back tomorrow with another party hit - someone told me they ate 9 of them!  See you then:)

Buffalo Chicken Dip, from Mike Fuller (online resource)

I never had had buffalo chicken of any kind until I met my husband - he loves it, I bet he could eat that, and bacon, everyday, if it wouldn't ruin your body;)  I now love it too, and obviously some places are better than others, but it's a good ole standby for an appetizer when we go out to dinner and can't make a quick decision.

I had never had this dip until someone else brought it to a party once, and then someone else to another...I then realized I must try it!  It contains ingredients I don't like at all, but all mixed together I do:)

You will need:

• 1 lb of boneless, skinless, chicken breast - I used the smaller cut ones
• 1 cup of ranch dressing (I used Ken's)
• 1 cup of Frank's Original Red Hot
• 1 8 oz block of cream cheese 
• 1 package of fancy shredded cheddar cheese - atleast 12 ounces
• green onions

• Boil your chicken breasts on the stove in a medium to large sauce pan, on medium heat.  My pieces took about 20 minutes to boil.  In the meantime, pre-heat your oven to 350.
• While the chicken is boiling, cut the cold cream cheese into cubes and place them into an 11.5" x 8" x 2" pyrex dish - I actually used a 13x8 baking dish instead.  Lightly mist the dish with buttered flavored Pam spray

• Evenly sprinkle the fancy shredded cheese on top of the cream cheese cubes
• Pour the dressing and red hot on top of the cheesy mixture and bake, uncovered, for about 7-10 minutes

• Once those minutes are up, you'll want to stir the mixture and place it back in the oven for another 7-10 minutes
• At this point, your chicken should be done boiling.  Drain the water, and then cover the chicken with cold water - this will help you shred the chicken.  I then hand-shredded the chicken into a bowl.

• After the cheesy mixture is done baking, stir it up really good, to make sure all of the flavors are spread throughout.  Add the chicken and stir some more.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake an additional 20-30 minutes.
• Once baked, you can serve it right in that Pyrex dish, or transfer it to a nice bowl of your choice:)  Again, don't forget the food you'll be dipping in it!  

There were about 20 people at the party, and this was placed in the living room where most of our friends gathered (where the bar was;)) - I left it with the celery, carrots, and pretzels (put the bread on the regular dining room table where we were putting the rest of the food because of space) and it went like that!  I'm so glad everyone enjoyed it, because I enjoyed making it - the smell of it baking those last 20-30 minutes is unbelievable!  2 thumbs up to this recipe!  Next time I may make it and put it into a bread bowl!!

Since I have to get up for work in 6 hours, I'll be saving the rest of the recipes for tomorrow night - write to you then:)

 

Yay for the Annual Christmas Party!

I'm back!  Melissa and I once again threw a fabulous get together for a great group of our closest friends.  Great food, great drink, great weather...well a blizzard started at some point during the overnight, but it just added to the holiday feel:)  I already can't wait for next years!  I believe this was our 5th one, maybe 4th, and I hope we continue to co-host together at one of our houses for many many years to come!

Before the party, though, came the menu preparation and the cooking of course!  Melissa and I wanted to make sure there was plenty of variety, mostly finger foods as it wasn't a sit down meal, plenty of different flavors and textures; really just plain ole good, yummy food for everyone to enjoy!  I'm hoping that Melissa will post what she made and I can connect you over there to see it, but I made:

• fudge - same recipe I've posted before, always a hit!
• buffalo chicken dip, with celery, carrots, pretzels, and pumpernickel bread for dipping
• meatball bubble biscuits
• crab rangoon bites
• crackers with herb cream cheese, basil, and tomato

I wish I had some leftovers right now!  Our guests were also kind enough to bring some yummy treats food-wise and drink-wise, so a big thank you to them as well!

I'm going to have separate posts for each recipe so it's not long and you can jump to the ones that interest you most - please let me know if you think of anything, especially an appetizer, that I can bring to my in-laws on Christmas Day:)

Here's a couple photos of the party to enjoy :)

party food, picture stolen from Melissa:)

Myself and the husband :)

My version of the Elaine dance from Seinfeld:)